


Dimension Break: The Wanderers' Tale

by KeybladeDetweiler



Series: Dimension Break [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Gravity Falls, Kingdom Hearts, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon), Steven Universe (Cartoon), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Canon - Book & Movie Combination, Crossover, Fictional worlds are different dimensions/universes, Friendship, Gen, No Romance, OCs - Freeform, The characters end up bonding in a "ragtag group" kind of way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5814244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeybladeDetweiler/pseuds/KeybladeDetweiler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A strange occurrence causes the denizens of many fictional worlds to come together and meet in a newly-formed place. This is the story of one group of wanderers, and their journey to find a way back to their homes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Not So Normal Beginning

It looked to be an average, ordinary Monday morning. Alex and Jordan were getting ready to head to school for their daily two hours of classes. Jordan had made their traditional morning drink: two coffee-free double chocolate frappes, and the siblings were headed out to Jordan’s red Terraza. They climbed in, Jordan in the driver’s seat and Alex in the passenger seat, and Jordan started up the car. The engine rumbled to life, and Alex turned the radio on. Jordan pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.

“Ready for two hours of hell?” he asked his sister teasingly.

“Yeah. I think I can manage two hours.” She laughed in reply.

They drove down the street, headed for their high school. As they drove, they noticed that their small town seemed a bit…different. It was certainly _much_ busier than usual. Alex took a small sip of her drink, and then looked out the window.

“Do things look different today, or is it just me?” she asked her brother.

“The town looks busier, that’s for sure. I didn’t think this many people lived here.” He replied. “Maybe they’re having some kind of festival.”

“We’ve lived here all our lives; there’s never been a festival at this time of the year.” Alex countered.

“There’s a first time for everything sis.”

They drove along down the main road, almost to their school, when Alex saw something _really_ out of the ordinary outside her window. It was a cat, with a unicorn horn on its head. It walked along the sidewalk happily.

“Jor, what do you call a cat with a unicorn horn?” Alex asked.

“Unicat, Unikitty…something like that, I guess. Why?”

“There’s one walking down the sidewalk, right outside my window.”

Jordan glanced out her window for just a second, and then stopped the car suddenly when he saw the thing. He looked at his sister, who looked back at him. Car horns sounded from behind them. The twins looked at each other. Then, Jordan hit the gas and the car continued moving.

Once they arrived at the school, they found it as normal and depressing as ever. That is, until they saw a familiar figure squeezing his way through the crowd of students in the main courtyard.

“Hiro?” Jordan leaned over the dashboard and squinted as he looked through the windshield to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things. He pointed at the boy, who had managed to escape the crowd and was now headed towards their car.

“Alex, it’s Hiro!”

“What’s he doing here?” Alex was confused. “San Fransokyo is miles away. Besides, I thought he was in college.”

“Maybe he transferred?”

“No idea.”

Jordan hit the car horn, and watched as Hiro jumped in surprise. The boy looked up at the car and immediately recognized the twins. He waved at them, then ran over and slid open the back door of the van. Then, he hopped inside, closed the door, and placed his backpack down on the floor beside him.

“Hey guys.” He said, climbing into the gap between the two front seats. He fruitlessly smoothed his messy black hair. “What’s going on?”

“That’s just the question I wanted to ask you.” Jordan said to him. “What’s going on? Why are you at our school?”

“This is _your_ school?” Hiro asked. “Huh. I thought for sure this was where SFIT was. I wonder how they tore down a technical college and built a high school overnight. That’s pretty impressive.” He added sarcastically.

“Wait. What?” Jordan was confused.

“I don’t know how it happened, but I went in the direction that my nerd school _should_ have been in, and this is where I ended up.” Hiro explained. “I took the regular way and everything. I have no idea how I got to your school.”

“Didn’t you walk with Honey, GoGo, Fred, and Wasabi? Where are they?” Alex asked him.

“I didn’t walk with them this morning; I woke up a little late. But I took the usual route, like I said, and I ended up here.”

“Huh.” Jordan said, thinking. “Maybe…maybe this has something to do with the Unicat we saw on the street earlier.”

“Unicat? What?” Hiro looked at him, confused.

“I mean…first off, you were in your hometown and ended up in ours after a short walk. Our hometowns are on opposite ends of the country; there’s _no way_ that that could have happened normally. Something screwy must be going on.”

“Maybe he accidentally wandered into a teleporter or something?” Alex suggested.

“Teleporters don’t exist yet, sis.” Jordan frowned at her.

“Not yet, but we’re working on it.” Hiro laughed.

“Anyway…something’s going on. And we need to figure out what.”

“I think you’re right, Jor.” Alex was looking out the window of the passenger door. “This is going to sound weird, and it’s kind of off topic, but…there’s a castle just down the street.” She pointed ahead.

In the distance, the boys could just make out the spires of a large, grand castle behind the tops of the trees. Hiro gaped in shock, and Jordan just nodded.

“Okay, that tears it: something’s going on.” Jordan said. “Either that, or this is just a lucid dream.”

“Well, let’s see if we can figure it out.” Alex said. “What should we do?”

“Going to school isn’t going to fix anything…I think we should head home and come up with a plan.” Jordan suggested.

“How about breakfast first?” Alex asked. “You said we’d go to the Pancake Hut after class; let’s do that now. We can plan while we’re there.”

“What’s the Pancake Hut?” Hiro asked.

“It’s local; right down the street from our house. They make amazing pancakes and waffles.” Alex gushed. She turned to her brother. “Come on, bro: Hiro’s never been. Besides, I’m starved.”

Jordan sighed. “Fine. We’ll stop for breakfast, if the Pancake Hut is still there. Then we’ll stop at the house to get our stuff, and after that…well, we’ll probably think of something.”

He carefully navigated the van out of the parking lot, and headed down the street towards the restaurant. Once they’d arrived, he parked and the trio got out of the van and headed inside the diner. They seated themselves, as was customary at the restaurant, and eventually were greeted by a waitress who took their orders. Alex ordered her usual pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hash brown combo, Jordan his usual loaded hash brown, and Hiro, after taking a good long look at the menu, ordered the breakfast special.

“So…what’s the plan, man?” Hiro asked Jordan, once the waitress had left.

“All I can think of at the moment is…well, investigating, I guess?” Jordan shrugged.

“Like, just wandering the city and asking people about what happened?” Alex asked him.

“Yeah; pretty much.”

“That doesn’t sound very effective, really.” Hiro said. “I doubt anyone around here knows any more about what’s going on than we do.”

“Well, that’s the best plan I have right now.” Jordan sighed.

“Maybe we’ll think of something better when we get home.” Alex suggested. “Don’t worry.”

Soon, the waitress brought their food, and the three of them ate, hoping that somehow they’d figure this whole mess out.


	2. Into the Wood

When the three of them got back to the Delaine house, they found things there to be as normal as ever. Except for one small thing.

“So…you guys didn’t tell me that you had a creepy forest in your backyard.” Hiro said, looking out the kitchen window. The twins up ran beside him to see the sight for themselves.

The small wooded area that had once been in their backyard was gone: in it’s place was dark looking forest, and an entrance of some kind, marked by an arch made of gnarled, bare trees. There was a path going through the arch; where it led, they did not know.

“Ok…when did that happen?” Alex asked, uneasy. “The backyard wasn’t like that when we left the house earlier, was it?” She looked at her brother.

“I don’t think so.” Jordan replied. “But then again, I don’t check on the backyard that often.”

“How d’you think it happened?”

“It probably has to do with whatever’s going on.”

“Whatever it is, it’s messing with the structure of the universe.” Hiro interjected. “And that’s not a good thing.”

Alex thought for a moment, and then spoke up. “Hey; what if we went _through_ the creepy tree arch?” she suggested.

“ _What_?” Her brother looked at her as though she had suggested that they run out in front of a speeding bus.

“Maybe we’ll find out what’s going on if we go in there. It looks like it has some answers.”

Jordan shook his head. “No way. It’s not safe.”

“How do you know?”

“It doesn’t look safe. And it also looks really…well… _creepy_.”

Hiro chimed in. “Well, I think it’s a better idea than staying in town. I mean, what are we going to find if we just stay here?”

“He’s right. People around here are so boring; there’s no way they’d have any clue about what’s going on.” Alex agreed.

“Someone might.” Jordan said quietly.

“Jor, I think you’re just afraid of things that you don’t know about.”

“I just don’t want any of us getting hurt, you know?”

“It’s an adventure! You’ll get hurt. But you have to accept that.” Hiro said. “I deal with it every day, since I’m a part-time superhero and all.”

“Well…okay. Fine. But we pack supplies before leaving.” Jordan commanded. “A lot of them. You get me?”

“Of course. You really thought we were just gonna run in there without preparing?” Alex laughed. “Come on.”

Alex and Jordan went to their rooms to get bags for supplies, and Hiro packed his backpack with food from the kitchen: mainly some of the contents of numerous boxes of snack cakes that the twins’ younger brother had tried to hide away. He also got some first aid supplies from the bathroom. The twins returned and packed up some food as well.

Alex slung her sword and sheath onto her back. “Are we ready?” she asked the boys.

“Just about.” Jordan said, stuffing a few more things into his pack. He looked at her sword. “Do you _really_ have to bring that?” he asked, frowning.

“You never know; I might need it.” She replied with a shrug.

He sighed. “Okay then, fine. Let’s go.”

The trio then headed out the back door and into the yard, and then took the small trek over to the arch of trees. They stopped right in front of it and looked up at it.

“Well, this is it.” Hiro remarked as he surveyed the entrance. “We’re heading into the unknown.”

“Hopefully we’ll find some answers.” Alex added.

“And if we don’t, we’re coming right back here.” Jordan declared. “I don’t want us to get lost, thank you very much.”

“Whatever you say.” Alex laughed a little. “You are the oldest, after all.”

Hiro looked at her, confused. “I thought you two were twins.”

“He’s three minutes older than me.”

“Oh, I see.”

After a few minutes, the three of them started walking and headed down the path, not knowing who or what they would find once they were out there.

* * *

An hour had passed, and they were still inside the dark forest that had made up the arch they had entered long before. There was no sign of anyone anywhere. Jordan grew tense.

“I know it’s only been an hour, but we still haven’t run into anybody. What if we’re lost?” he shuddered.

“Stop worrying so much.” Alex said. “We’re bound to run into somebody. Eventually.” She nervously glanced at the ground.

“Yeah.” Hiro agreed. “And like you said, it’s only been an hour.”

“Uh-huh.” Alex nodded. “When it’s been three days or something, _then_ we can start worrying.”

They kept on walking, and eventually they chose to stop and rest for a little while against a tree. They pulled out some of the food they had packed and ate it as they sat with their backs against the tree. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two figures stumbled out of the brush from behind them. Alex and Jordan recognized them almost instantly.

“Wirt!” Alex cried, excited.

“Greg!” Jordan shouted.

The twins ran up to the two siblings and hugged them, Alex hugging Wirt and Jordan hugging Greg.

Wide eyed, Wirt looked at his hugger in shock until he realized whom it was. Then, he carefully put his arms around her and hugged her back.

“It’s so good to see you again.” Alex said to him before letting go. She smiled at him. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“Yeah.” The teen rubbed his neck as he smiled at her. “I missed you.”

“Me too. How’s Sara?”

“She’s doing fine.” He told her.

“Is she with you?”

“No; it’s just Greg and I.”

The little boy, who was wearing his favorite “elephant” costume and holding his pet frog Jason Funderberker, spoke up. Jordan let go of him. “Yeah! Me and Wirt went out to do some exploring; we were gonna look for bugs.”

“Did you find any good ones?” Jordan asked him.

“A couple, but Jason Funderburker ate them.”

“That’s too bad.”

“How did you two end up out here?” Alex asked Wirt.

“I’m…not really sure.” Wirt shrugged. “We were hunting for bugs, like Greg said, but then…well, I guess we wandered off the path we were taking, or something, but we ended up out here in these woods.”

“Well, a weird arch of trees showed up in our backyard, and we went through it. That’s how we got here.”

“Huh.”

Wirt then noticed Hiro, who was still sitting by the tree, out of the way of the happy reunion. “Who’s this?” he pointed at the boy, who sat snacking on a sandwich cake while staring at him.

Hiro got onto his knees and extended his hand to Wirt. “Name’s Hiro. Hiro Hamada.” He introduced himself through a mouthful of cake, shaking Wirt’s hand. He quickly swallowed the cake he was eating.

“I’m Wirt. It’s…nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Uh, no offense or anything, but…what are you dressed as? A gnome or something?”

Wirt looked down at his cloak and put a hand on his hat; he suddenly remembered that he was dressed in his “pilgrim” costume.

“Oh…uh…this?” he scratched the back of his neck. Then he said, more confidently, “This is my pilgrim outfit.”

“Is it a costume or something?”

“Yeah, kind of. Greg always has me wear it whenever we go out “adventuring”, just like his little outfit. It’s just something we do.”

“Oh; okay.” Hiro stuffed the rest of the cake in his mouth and swallowed it before going to introduce himself to Greg.

“Hey there; I’m Hiro. I’m a friend of Jordan’s.” He waved at Greg.

“Nice to meet you, Hiro! I’m Greg.” The boy said proudly. He pulled a rock with a painted face on it from the small shoulderbag he wore. “Want to learn some rock facts?”

“Uh…sure.” Hiro quickly walked over to Wirt again and whispered, “What are rock facts?”

“They’re just silly little facts he makes up; most of them aren’t true.” Wirt explained. “Just play along with it.”

“Okay.” Hiro then walked back over to the boy and asked him to tell all the rock facts he knew. This got Greg chattering, and he and Hiro sat down together beside the tree. Jordan, meanwhile, joined Alex and Wirt.

“So, where are the three of you going?” Wirt asked them.

“We’re adventuring, basically.” Alex informed. “We don’t know where we’re going. We’re just…going.”

“We’re trying to figure out what got us here.” Jordan clarified. “Like what caused that arch to show up in our yard. And that Unicat…” he trailed off.

“Unicat? What?” Wirt was confused.

“It’s just something we saw on the side of the road this morning; nothing dangerous.” Alex reassured him. “At least, I think it’s not dangerous.”

“Oh, okay then.” He sighed in relief. “Do you think Greg and I can come with you?”

“Of course!” Alex said. “The more of us there are, the quicker we’ll be able to figure things out.”

“Not necessarily.” Jordan muttered under his breath. “But…yeah. You can come with us.”

Greg suddenly piped up. “Is there anything to eat? I’m hungry.”

“Here you go little guy.” Hiro pulled a snack cake from his backpack and tossed it to the boy, who caught it.

“Thanks.” Greg replied with a smile as he unwrapped the cake and took a bite.

“We’re just taking a small break; we’ve been walking for like, an hour.” Jordan told Wirt. “We’ll get going in a little while.”

“Ok. We needed a break anyway.”

The group sat together under the shade of the tree and ate their meal, and soon they headed onward once again. They walked on and on, Alex and Jordan catching up with Wirt and Greg as they went along. Hiro put his earbuds in his ears and listened to some music as he walked.

“So, how have things been with you two?” Alex asked Wirt.

“Nothing new really.” Wirt shrugged. “How about you?”

“Well, aside from all this weird stuff that’s happened today…things have been relatively normal.” Alex said. “I did find a book that I thought you might like, though. I’ll make sure to bring it over to your house, when I can.”

“Really? That’s cool. Thanks.”

They talked on and on about all sorts of things, and Greg told Jordan some new rock facts he had learnt. For now, things were as peaceful as they could be.


	3. Enter the Mystery Twins

The group had been walking for at least another two hours, when Hiro finally paused his music, took out one of his earbuds, and made a request.

“Can we take another break?”

Jordan turned to him and shook his head. “Nope. Sorry. We need to cover as much ground as we can; we can take a break when it gets dark.”

“Will we get to sleep?” Greg asked.

“Yep.”

“Okay.”

“Are you fine with a little more walking, Hiro?” Jordan asked his friend.

“Yeah, I guess it’s fine.” The boy replied with a light shrug before popping the bud back into place.

“Ok then; let’s keep moving.”

They continued their trek onwards, until finally the sun began to sink lower in the sky. Finally, Jordan said,

“Ok, just five more minutes of walking, and then we can stop. There’s a tree just ahead that we can make camp next to.”

The group headed over to the tree, ready to settle down for the evening. However, they found that two familiar faces already occupied their spot beneath the tree.

Dipper and Mabel were there, and they had set up their own little camp. Dipper was trying to light a fire, and Mabel was skewering marshmallows onto two branches. Mabel was the first to catch sight of the group of travelers.

“Dipper? Mabel?” Alex asked, both confused and surprised.

“Hey guys!” Mabel cried out excitedly, dropping the marshmallow sticks onto the ground and jumping up with delight. She ran over and hugged all of them at once, then turned to Dipper and cried out,

“Hey bro-bro, look who’s here!”

Dipper looked up from the firewood he was still trying to light and smiled when he saw whom it was that his sister was getting so excited about.

“Hey!” He put down his matchbox and waved at the group. “You guys are out here too?” he asked them.

“Yeah.” Alex said. “Surprise?” She shrugged slowly.

“How did you guys get here?” Jordan asked the other set of twins.

“We were in the woods, hunting for mysterious stuff and all that.” Mabel explained. “I thought we were still in the same place; we were gonna camp out for the night.”

“Yeah.” Dipper nodded. “We thought we were still in the woods of Gravity Falls. That’s why we’re kind of surprised that you’re here.”

“I don’t think we’re in Gravity Falls.” Jordan said. “We’re somewhere else.”

“How did you guys get here?” Dipper asked.

“Well, Alex, Jordan and I got here through a weird arch portal thingy that was in their backyard.” Hiro explained as he flipped off his music player and took out his earbuds.

“And Greg and I were just walking through the woods when we bumped into the three of them.” Wirt added.

“So you guys got here from your homes?” Dipper asked. He turned to his sister and said, “I think Jordan’s right; we’re not in Gravity Falls anymore.”

“Then where are we?” Mabel asked him. “A different dimension?”

“Maybe. Who knows?”

“Well, how about we stick together and see if we can get all of this straightened out? Ok?” Alex asked.

“Sounds good to me.” Dipper nodded.

“Yeah!” Mabel agreed. “It’s always fun hanging out with you guys!”

“We were just setting up camp before you guys got here.” Dipper said, as the others followed him over to the clearing beneath the tree. “I’ve been trying to light this fire, but I think the wood that Mabel brought me is damp or something.”

“Maybe if you got some dry leaves it would work.” Jordan suggested.

“Huh. Okay, let’s try that.” He turned to his sister. “Mabel, can you get some leaves for me?”

“I’ll do it.” Jordan volunteered. He then headed over to the other side of the path and began to gather the stray leaves that were strewn about the ground. Alex, Hiro, Wirt, and Greg sat down beside the tree.

“I’d better get some more sticks. You guys want marshmallows, right?” Mabel asked them.

“Sure.” Hiro said.

“Sounds yummy.” Alex smiled.

“Yeah!” Greg nodded.

“Okay! Five more sticks.” Mabel then went to gather the sticks she needed.

Jordan brought back some leaves, and Dipper was finally able to light a small fire. Then, he and Jordan began to roast the two sticks of marshmallows that Mabel had already made. Mabel brought back some more sticks, and soon everyone was crowded around the tiny fire, roasting marshmallows and talking the night away.   Once they were all tired out, they went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, the group set out on the road again. They hoped that they would come across a town or something of the sort sometime that day, although they weren’t expecting to. They walked together, chatting and doing some more catching up. Things were calm, until it came time for them to stop for lunch.

They went to sit down and rest for a moment, ready to eat, when out of nowhere a mysterious stranger appeared. He was cloaked and hunched over, and had a small scruffy beard. The teenagers were taken aback, Dipper was confused, and Mabel and Greg backed away from him a little, nervous.

“Hello young travelers!” The stranger greeted them. “Where are you off to on this fine day?”

“We’re trying to figure out what’s happened to our world.” Jordan told him. “Everything is moving around, and things are changing…but in a weird way, you know? We want to know what the heck is going on, and that’s why we’re walking. We’re hoping to find someone or something that can fix all of this.”

“You are, are you? Well, it just so happens that I can point you in the direction of a group of powerful and wise beings, who might have the answer to your problem.” The stranger told them.

“Really?” Jordan raised his eyebrows and his eyes grew wide in surprise.

“Yes.”

“Well…where are they? How can we find them?” Alex asked.

“I’ll lead you to them; they’re not very far. Only two days’ journey.”

“Two days? That sounds pretty far to me.” Mabel crossed her arms.

“Yeah. And how do we know we can trust you?” Dipper frowned.

The man laughed. “You don’t. But you don’t have many options at the moment, do you? Unless you’d rather wander these woods forever?”

“We’d rather not.” Wirt said.

“Well then, the choice is clear! Come with me, and I will take you to these mighty beings. Surely they can help you.”

“Give us a sec.” Hiro told him. The group then got together to talk amongst themselves.

“Well, what do you guys think?” Wirt asked the others. “I think he’s loony.”

“Same here. He seems like he’s off his rocker.” Dipper agreed.

“But he sounds like he knows something.” Jordan reasoned. “I mean, yeah, he does seem a bit on the nutty side, but he sounds pretty serious too.”

“Should we go with him then?” Alex asked. “I don’t want to, but if you think he’s worth listening to…”

“How about this: Hiro and I go with him, and see where he takes us. If the lead turns out to be a dud, we’ll head back as quickly as we can and try to meet up with the rest of you. If not, we’ll stay and talk to these wise men for a while, and then come back. Ok?”

“Sounds good.” Alex nodded.

“Hey! I don’t want to go with Mr. Nutty Nut Bar back there!” Hiro objected, looking back at the old man, who was doing some kind of odd dance, twirling in circles and hopping with glee. “I’m with Dipper and Wirt; he’s cracked.”

“Come on, Hiro. We’ll be fine; what’s the worst that a crazy old man could do to us?” Jordan asked.

“Uh, I don’t know…maybe…kill us? You’d be surprised what old guys are capable of.”

“He looks harmless to me. Come on, please?” Jordan nudged him. “Just trust me.”

“Fine.” Hiro sighed, looking to his feet. “But if he turns out to be evil, we’re out of there. Got it?”

“Got it.” Jordan nodded, smiling a little. He turned to the others. “Well, we’re gonna go ahead and go with Mr. Cuckoo. You guys can keep going on ahead. We’ll catch up with you.”

“And hopefully we’ll have some answers with us.” Hiro added. “If we’re not killed first.”

“Okay then.” Wirt said. “See you soon.”

“Be safe!” Alex told them.


	4. Hobbits

Alex and the others watched in silence as Jordan and Hiro headed off down the road with the old stranger, in search of the “wise men”. Hopefully they’d find out what exactly was going on, and come back with some much-needed answers.

Once the boys were out of sight, Alex turned back to her four companions.

“Okay then…what next?” she asked them. “Should we wait here, or keep going, or what?”

“You’re the oldest; shouldn’t you know?” Mabel asked.

Alex sighed, and then gave the young girl a weak smile. “Eh…sometimes even I’m not sure what to do, Mabel.”

“We’ll think of something.” Dipper said. “Until we do, though, we should find a place where we can stop and rest for a little bit.”

“I’m thirsty,” Greg piped up. “Can we get something to drink?”

“We can look for some water. If we find a stream, maybe we can stop and rest there for a little bit.” Alex decided.

The group then decided to veer off the path just a little to see if they could find a source of water. They walked through the brush, staying close to one another, and ducking every so often to avoid being smacked by any wayward branches that may have been hanging about. They went on like this for a few long minutes before they heard the sound of a stream not far from where they were. Alex, as she was the oldest and also had her sword on hand, went on ahead of the group to make sure that there weren’t any dangerous beings taking a drink there.

She pushed aside a small leafy bush and peered out at the stream. What she saw filled her with wonder.

A young man was sitting on an outcrop of rocks on the other side of the stream. He was bent over the water, and his hand was cupped and filled with the liquid. He took slow and careful sips from the crystal clear stream. Alex crouched down behind the bush and stayed silent, fearful that she might startle this mysterious stranger if she moved any more.

She took a closer look at him. He was dressed like a traveler; he wore a green cloak and had a knapsack upon his back that she assumed was filled with provisions. His hair was dark and curly, his ears just slightly pointed, and his skin was rather pale. But the oddest thing about him, she noticed, was his feet: they were rather large, and had hair on them almost identical to the hair on his head, only a shade lighter.

 _He looks like he came right out of a fairy tale._ Alex thought to herself as she continued watching him. He was still drinking from the stream, and when he leaned in a little bit more, she saw something slip out from under his shirt: a silver chain was hanging from his neck, and at the end was a small, golden ring. Alex noticed it for only a moment, though; she was more interested in him and what he was doing.

Suddenly, from behind her she heard Wirt’s voice.

“Is everything all right?” he asked. “You’re taking a w-”

She quickly pulled him down beside her and took off his hat. He let out a small, quiet cry.

“What’s going-?”

She shushed him.

“What’s going on?” he repeated in a whisper. “And why’d you take my hat?” Annoyed, he snatched it back from her and pulled it close to his chest.

Alex pointed at the stranger. “See him?” she asked.

Wirt peered over the bush at the stranger, then looked back at her. “Yeah, why?”

“I don’t want him to see us. He might run off.”

“Why do you care? We don’t even know him.”

“I’m just…interested. I want to know a little more about him.” She told him. “He’s the first person we’ve seen in the last couple of hours, after all.”

“Hmm.” Wirt murmured to himself, thinking. He then said, “Well, the others and I were getting worried about you. And Greg’s still wondering when he can get some water.”

“Go ahead and go get them; I’ll stay here.”

“I thought you didn’t want to scare him off.” Wirt said as he stood up, as quietly as he could, as he brushed off his cloak and put his hat back on.

“I don’t. Just don’t make any noise, and tell the others to be quiet. Ok?”

“Okay then.” Wirt turned and headed off to get his brother and the twins. Although he had _tried_ to stay quiet on his way back, he accidentally tripped over a tree root and rustled some leaves. Alex shook her head and sighed quietly. Wirt quickly stood up and bolted off like a scared rabbit, afraid of being seen.

The young man on the other side of the stream looked up suddenly, alerted by the noises. He stood and watched the bushes carefully, his hand going to the hilt of a sword that Alex had not previously seen. The girl slowly lifted her head up from behind the bushes and looked at him. Blue eyes stared back at her.

For what seemed like a very long time, the two of them stared at each other, transfixed. Then, a voice broke their concentration.

“Mr. Frodo? Mr. Frodo?!” It called out. “Where are you?”

The young man turned and shouted back. “Coming, Sam!”

He took one last look at her before running off in the direction of the voice. Alex stood there in silence. She was joined seconds later by Wirt, Greg, Dipper, and Mabel.

“Be quiet; you don’t want to scare him off.” Wirt told the children, before going to Alex’s side. He looked across the stream and saw that the stranger was gone.

He sighed. “Oh. I scared him away, didn’t I?” he asked, blushing from embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“No, it wasn’t you.” Alex said softly. “Someone called for him, and he left.”

“Did he see you?”

She nodded.

“What happened? Did he say anything to you?”

She shook her head. “No. We just…stared at each other.”

“Oh.”

The other three, meanwhile, had chosen to go straight for the stream and began drinking their fill. Wirt and Alex kneeled down to do the same, and after a few sips of water, she suddenly said, “Frodo.”

“Hmm?” Wirt looked at her, confused.

“That’s his name. Frodo.”

* * *

Shortly after the encounter at the stream, the five of them returned to the main path and continued onward. Hopefully they would be able to find somewhere to rest before night fell. They walked on and on, occasionally talking between themselves, when suddenly Dipper stopped in his tracks.

“What is it?” Alex asked, looking at him.

“I feel like we’re being followed. Or someone’s watching us.” He replied nervously.

“It doesn’t sound like anyone is following us.” Wirt said.

“Yeah…” Mabel said as she glanced behind them for a moment, ready to tell her brother that he was just paranoid, as usual. However, she discovered that he was right. They _were_ being followed. She gasped.

Frodo, and another stranger (presumably the one who had called out for him before), were standing a few feet behind them. The moment the group turned around to face them, the other stranger drew his sword. However, the weapon did not shock the group as much as the height of its wielder and his companion did; the pair looked to be one or two feet shorter than Alex and Wirt. They were closer to Greg’s size, although they were still taller than the boy.

“Who are you?” the other stranger asked. He had red hair, wore a cloak exactly like Frodo’s and was tanner and plumper. His hair was just as curly as his companion’s, and his ears were just as pointed. Alex assumed his feet looked the same as well, although she did not bother checking just then.

“Uh…” Alex was not sure what to say. Wirt and Dipper were speechless, and Mabel and Greg looked at the pair with a combination of utter awe, excitement, and amazement.

“They’re probably spies.” The second stranger continued quietly, now speaking to Frodo. “After the ring, no doubt. No wonder they were watching you.”

“Ring?” Alex asked. She suddenly remembered the one Frodo had been wearing around his neck.

Dipper spoke up. “We’re not after your ring, or whatever, and we’re not spies.”

Alex nodded. “We were only at the stream because we were thirsty and needed a drink.” She added. “That’s all.”

Frodo nodded. “I see.” He said quietly. To his companion, he whispered, “They mean us no harm, Sam. Put away your weapon.”

Sam frowned, reluctantly sheathing his sword.

“Who…are you?” Alex asked them, still very confused.

“We are hobbits of the Shire. I am Frodo Baggins, and this is Samwise Gamgee.” Frodo said, introducing himself and his companion.

“Who are you?” Sam asked the five of them, crossing his arms.

“I’m Dipper Pines. This is my sister, Mabel.” Dipper pointed to himself and his sister.

Mabel waved. “Hi there!” she greeted them.

“I’m Wirt, and this is my brother Greg.” The boy pulled his younger brother a little bit closer to him.

“And I’m Alex.” The girl said timidly. She stepped back a little bit as she thought of the events at the stream.

“So…uh…where are you headed?” Dipper asked them, once the introductions had concluded.

“We’re in search of our six companions. The eight of us are on a quest.” Was all Frodo would say.

“Uh…what was that…thing you were talking about?” Wirt then asked, changing the subject. “You were talking like we were going to steal it from you. Is it important?”

“It’s none of your concern.” Sam frowned at him.

Alex thought of mentioning that she had seen the ring that they had spoken of, but decided against it. Instead, she chose to say something else.

“Well, we’re on a quest too…I guess. Would you like to join our group?” she invited them. “Only for a little while, of course; until you find your friends.”

After a moment of silence, the two hobbits turned to talk between themselves.

“I’m not sure if we should go with them, Mr. Frodo.” Sam said. “We have to find the others.”

“They don’t seem to be dangerous, but I agree. We shouldn’t waste our time following these strangers.” Frodo nodded.

They turned back to the five others.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t join you.” Frodo said to them. “We must continue with our quest.”

“Are you sure?” Mabel asked. “It’ll be fun!”

He nodded.

Dipper then spoke up. “Well, even if you do have to continue with your quest, you might have trouble. Everything’s kind of, well…different.”

The hobbits looked at him, confused.

“See…something happened, and now, well, things aren’t like they used to be. We don’t know what happened, but…yeah. If you keep going in the direction of wherever it is you’re headed…you probably won’t get there.” The boy sighed before pressing a hand to his forehead. His face reddened a little.

They said nothing to him; still as confused as ever.

“It’s hard to explain, but…well, basically everything’s moved around and nothing’s in the same place. Does that make any sense?”

They shook their heads slowly.

“Yeah, I know. We’re just as confused. Anyway…if you come with us, maybe we can figure out what’s wrong. And then you can finish with your quest.”

Alex nodded. “Uh…yeah. And, if someone’s after you, we could protect you…sort of.” She added. “If you want, that is.” She looked to the ground for a brief moment, then looked back up at Frodo and Sam.

The hobbits looked at each other again, and then Frodo nodded.

“All right then, we’ll go with you.” He said. “But only for a little while. We can’t stay with you for very long; we have to find the rest of our company.”

“Understood.” Dipper said with a nod.

“Anyway…welcome to our group!” Mabel smiled warmly, bubbling with excitement. “It’s so nice to meet you guys. We’re not really sure where we’re going, but we’re glad to have you with us anyway! And hey; maybe we’ll find your friends on the way!”

Sam rolled his eyes. “They don’t even know where they’re going.” He muttered under his breath. “Why’d you agree to go with them?” He whispered to his companion.

“It’s fine, Sam. We’re just going to walk with them for a while; perhaps we’ll find the rest of the group, or a way to Mordor while we’re with them.” Frodo reassured his friend. “Besides, I don’t think they want to hurt us. We’re probably safer with them than we were by ourselves.”

The two hobbits followed the rest of the group as they started off once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were curious, the hobbits' characterizations are my interpretation, and are a blend of how they act in the books and the films.


	5. Of Crystal Gems

The party continued their journey through the mysterious forest. Mabel, Greg, and Alex walked with the hobbits, wanting to get to know them better. Dipper and Wirt took the lead and guided the group along.

“So…are you some kind of a prince?” Greg asked Frodo as they walked.

“No…” Frodo smiled; he almost laughed. “What made you think I was a prince?”

“You look like one. That’s all.”

“Yeah, you do!” Mabel agreed. “You look really handsome; like you came right out of a storybook. Doesn’t he?” The girl turned to Alex, who nodded.

“Well, I’m not a prince, I’m afraid.” Frodo told them. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“It’s okay if you’re not a prince, but are you sure?” Mabel asked.

“I’m sure.”

“Well…how did the two of you get lost?” Alex asked them, changing the subject. “Did you lose your group, or…?”

“Our company was setting up camp for the evening, but I wandered off by myself, to do some thinking.”

“I followed him.” Sam spoke up.

“Yes.” Frodo nodded. “We went back to rejoin the others, but we couldn’t find them. So we chose to continue on, and well…that’s it.”

“That’s kinda how me and Wirt got here!” Greg spoke up again. “Right Wirt?”

“Yeah…kind of.” Wirt replied, glancing back at his brother. “But not really.”

“Well…how did all of you get here?” Frodo inquired, curious to know.

“Mabel and I were hanging out in the woods, and we somehow ended up here.” Dipper said. “It was weird…it didn’t even feel like we had left home.”

“I came here through…well…a weird looking arch of trees in my backyard, with my brother and other friend.” Alex explained, in a rather quiet voice. “The two of them went off with some old man not long ago, who said that he could help them find some people who could get us all home.”

“That’s curious…” Frodo mused. He looked to Wirt. “What about you?”

Wirt said nothing at first, and then after a few moments finally spoke up.

“Greg and I were in the forest, and well…” he stopped himself, then said, “It was basically the same way Dipper and Mabel got here. We didn’t even know we were somewhere else. Yeah…that’s it.”

“Oh.”

The walking continued. Further and further, on and on, through an endless forest. Eventually, night fell once again, and the group chose to set up camp.

The hobbits laid out their bedrolls. Dipper and Mabel shared a blanket that Mabel had brought with them. Wirt slept on the cold, hard ground, and gave his cloak to Greg so that the boy would be able to stay warm. Alex slept on the ground as well, and used her backpack as a pillow. None of them were very comfortable, really, but they were still able to fall asleep nonetheless.

* * *

The next day, Alex was awoken by someone poking at her face. She assumed that it was either Mabel or Greg, and so of course, she ignored it. It wasn’t until she heard someone’s voice that she realized that it was someone completely new.

“Steven! Stop poking the stranger!” It sounded like the voice of a woman. Alex opened one eye, hoping to get a look at whoever was poking her, or find the source of the voice.

A young boy with curly, black hair was standing over her, his finger pointed towards her; this must have been her assailant. Standing behind him was a rather tall, slender and graceful pale-looking figure, dressed like a ballerina. Alex opened her other eye, blinked a few times, then sat up and rubbed both her eyes. Then she stretched, before turning to the two strangers.

“Uh…hi.” she yawned. “Is there, um, something I can help you with?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing.” The ballerina told Alex. “We were just walking by, and Steven noticed your little campsite here, that’s all. He wanted to see if all of you were all right, and he started poking you…I don’t know why. I’m sorry; I hope he didn’t disturb you.”

The young boy, Steven, suddenly spoke up before Alex could get a word in.

“Pearl, we do need their help, remember? We got lost! And we were going to ask them for directions!”

“That was _your_ idea, Steven; I’m sure we’ll be just fine. We don’t need any help. We’ll find Garnet and Amethyst again soon enough.”

“And Connie! Don’t forget Connie!” Steven added.

“Garnet? Amethyst?” Alex was confused. Why were they talking about gemstones?

“They’re our friends.” Steven explained. “See, Pearl and I are part of this team called the Crystal Gems…we help protect the earth and stuff. Oh, yeah…I’m Steven, by the way.”

“Really? That’s cool…and it’s nice to meet you, Steven. I’m Alex.” Alex got up from her spot on the ground and brushed herself off. “Give me just a second…I’ll wake the others up, okay? They’ll want to meet you.”

“No, no! It’s fine!” Pearl said quickly, shaking her head. “We were just about to be on our way; we don’t have time to stop and chat.”

 “But Pearl, we really need directions!” Steven ran back over to her. “Maybe one of them can help us.”

“Well…”

Alex spoke up again. “Uh, well…we’re not really going to be able to help with directions, but we’re all looking for our friends too. So…maybe we can travel together?”

Steven’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “Really? That sounds like fun!” He turned back to Pearl. “Can we? Please, Pearl?”

Pearl sighed. “I’ll think about it, once we’ve met everyone. All right?”

“Ok.” Steven sighed a little.

Alex went around the small camp, gently awakening the rest of her companions. Once everyone was up and awake, they were introduced to Pearl and Steven, and vice versa. Mabel and Greg took an instant liking to Steven, and Steven himself seemed to like everyone. Pearl still seemed a bit hesitant, but not as much as she had been before.

“So…” Steven said to Pearl, once everyone had met the two of them and Alex had told the others that she had invited the pair to travel with them. “Can we go with them, Pearl?”

“Well…I’m still not sure. I mean, we barely know these people, Steven.” Pearl said.

“Yeah, but…if we’re with a group, maybe it’ll be easier to find Garnet, Amethyst, and Connie. And besides, we can get to know them along the way!”

“Oh yeah; there’s going to be a lot of time for that, for sure!” Mabel said.

“All right.” Pearl nodded. “We’ll travel with you. But once we find our teammates…I mean, friends, we have to go.”

“The same still goes for Mr. Frodo and I.” Sam reminded the others, as though they might have forgotten.

“Got it.” Alex nodded, first to Pearl and then to Samwise. “Well, now that that’s all figured out, let’s have breakfast.” She looked to Steven and Pearl. “You guys want some?”

“I’m fine.” Pearl replied. “But thank you for offering.”

“I’m hungry…I’ll take some!” Steven answered.

“Steven, didn’t you pack some food before we left?” Pearl asked him.

“Oh, yeah.” The boy remembered.

He took off his cheeseburger-shaped backpack, which the others had only just noticed, unzipped one of its numerous pouches, and removed a large box of donuts and a juice box. Just as he was about to open the box of donuts, he noticed that Sam had started working to get a fire going.

“Hey…I’ll share my donuts with you guys!” Steven offered the box to them. “That way you don’t have to go to all the trouble of cooking food.”

“Ooh, donuts!” Mabel said excitedly, prancing over and accepting one from the now-open box in Steven’s hand. Greg came just a second after her, and Steven gave him one as well.

Soon, almost everyone had a donut…except for Frodo and Sam.

“Are you sure you guys don’t want one? They’re only a day old.” Steven said.

“No, thank you.” Sam told him.

“How come? Do you not like donuts?”

“We’d rather eat our own food, if that’s all right.” Frodo told him. “It’s nothing against you; we would just rather eat what we have. And Sam…well, he doesn’t care much for new foods.”

“Ok!” Steven replied. “I understand; you guys enjoy your own breakfast.”

Frodo smiled at him. “You too.” He nodded.

Ten minutes passed and everyone had finished with their meals, and now they were ready to start off on their way again. They packed up their belongings, and soon were headed down the wooded path once more, hoping to find any sign of a way home or their friends.


End file.
